The Pain Of A Cherry Blossom
by Saku-Chan.x
Summary: Team 7 Fic, -On Hiatus-
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not Naruto, but I do own this story!

Full Summary: It was only suppose to be a assassinate mission; it was only suppose to take a few weeks. Yet it took a _year_, they didn't realise that Sakura was left alone without a team for a year. But before she could even wait any longer Tsundae calls her and offers her a mission- but she didn't know it involved a certain Kazekage, but what happens when her team finally come back after all these time only to return home with their favourite cherry blossom already heading over to Suna? Sakuracentric

-

-

-

The Pain Of A Cherry Blossom 

Chapter 1 

New Missions

-

-

-

The hospital was unusually quiet today; almost everyone was on a mission which left a certain pink haired woman wander the halls of the awfully peaceful building with a pile of papers occupying the space on her hands.

It wasn't a very long journey, since they were no distractions on her quiet trip. If it was a normal day, then it wouldn't this calm and silent there would be noisy children and nurse crowding around her, but she didn't mind it of course.

When her office finally came into view, she walked over and pushed the door backwards. Once she was inside, she carefully dropped the papers on her organised desk. She smiled at the picture of her and the girls, it was suppose to be a girls night out which was arranged by Ino. She really had to thank her friends, or she would have _no _social life.

Her smile vanished when she looked over to the _other _picture; it was a picture of her old team. It was strange, Sakura can still remember the moments that they had shared... she could remember them just like they happened just yesterday. She could remember Naruto, the loudmouth of the team. Sai the artistic person of the team, who did have a way of expressing his emotions. Kakashi -her teacher and lazy always late person on the team. And of course Sasuke, the love of her life but that love had died a lot time ago. And there standing in the middle, was herself. She had changed greatly since then, she had trained more, worked more and even her appearance had changed a bit.

Sakura always had to hold back the tears whenever she saw this particular picture, she was always telling herself that she was going to throw it away. But she knew herself that she couldn't... she would just be lying to herself if she ever said she _hated _them.

She turned her head, trying to get that picture out of her head. She didn't want to start crying all over again, she didn't want to be weak anymore. Well not that she _was _weak, everyone knew Sakura because she was the hokage's apprentice. She was also known for not just her strength but also for her beauty, she had many admirers from Konaha and from some of the other hidden villages but she always politely turned down their affections, but they still follow her like love struck kids.

But Sakura hoped that something better than her will come along so that she could have a break from the daily confessions, not that she wasn't flattered or anything... it was just that if you had to deal with a number of guys constantly stalking you then, it does tend to hit some of the nerves.

Once her eyes came back to the stack of papers, she sighed and remembered why Tsundae always hated paperwork. She smiled at the memories when she would always complain about the paperwork and then mutter something about not having enough sake. Well with Tsundae, there probably wouldn't be _enough_ sake in the world.

She was just about to take a seat when she sensed a presence in the building, she frowned for a moment she wasn't expecting anyone. But perhaps one of the teams had come early and needed some medical attention? Sakura pondered for a moment, before moving to the door but instead the door had opened violently by an intruder?

Sakura acted quickly, grabbing a kunai out of her pouch and turning into a defensive stance only to find out that the 'intruder' was actually a menacing looking... _Ino? _Then, it had finally hit her she was supposed to meet up with Ino for lunch at Ichiraku for some ramen. But it skipped her mind due to the fact that she had _plenty _of paperwork to do.

Maybe that excuse would work on Ino... then again; it hadn't worked for the past months.

"Ano... Ino-chan—"Sakura said, beginning to back away from Ino. She could already feel the anger radiating from the blonde head, and instantly felt a headache coming on.

"Sakura-chan... do I even have to ask why you didn't show up?" Ino inquired, her eyes glancing from Sakura to the _still huge _pile of paperwork. She sighed; she wondered why Sakura would rather do boring work then go to lunch with her?!

"Ino-chan, I'm sorry! It just skipped my mind... and I really had to get this done" Sakura explained, gesturing to the paperwork. She really didn't want to have to deal with an angry Tsundae if she doesn't finish it.

Ino groaned in response, "Aw c'mon Sakura-chan! All you do is work, can't you do it later?!" Ino whined this in-fact happened on a regular basic. It would usually happen once a week, maybe twice if Sakura had a busy schedule.

Sakura rolled her eyes, before walking back and settling in her seat. She took out a pen and started on the paperwork, ignoring Ino's whines every now and then. Then it became quiet... a little _too _quiet, Sakura looked up from the papers to see an innocent looking Ino and raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off nonetheless.

Obviously not realising why Ino was being suspiciously quiet... she got on with her work as if nothing had happened. Well that is until Ino suddenly jumped her and tied her up with some chakra rope, then once that was done Ino happily skipped out of Sakura's office... dragging behind an annoyed Sakura who was muttering to herself something along the lines of 'I'm gonna get Ino-pig for this?!' and some other colourful words that I cannot mention.

When Ino was finally out of the hospital, she continued to drag the poor rosette which earned her some stares from passing people. And Sakura well... she was pleading those passing people to help her get away from the crazy woman who was _still _dragging her along. That is until she stopped at the infamous Ichiraku, and now that she thinks about it. It _has _been awhile since she had visited this shop.

"Ino-chan... can you let me down now?" Sakura asked, beginning to feel uncomfortable under the chakra ropes. Ino stared at her wary, as if she didn't trust her. Then again, Sakura couldn't blame her since she wouldn't know if she was going was going to run like hell back to her office.

Not that she had actually _tried _that of course...

"How am I suppose to trust you won't hurt me?" Ino retorted, taking a seat on one of the wooden chair unlike she was _still _on the ground... and tied up.

"_Ino_" Sakura growled, in a warning tone. She wasn't exactly in the mood to be polite anymore, at least when Ino is concerned.

The said girl rolled her eyes as she removed the ropes with one of her kunai, and then the chakra ropes fell straight to the ground as Sakura swiftly stood up and dusted herself off. And stepped over to sit on one of the chairs, that was right next to Ino's.

"So Ino, why did you kidnap me in the first place? You knew I had work to do" Sakura questioned, trying to keep her temper under control.

Ino blinked as she turned towards the ramen owner and told him her order, and Sakura did the same. "Because Shizune told me to go over there and tell you that she was going to do the paperwork for you" Ino said almost casually and shrugged, completely unaware of the fact that Sakura was giving her a menacing look that even the devil itself would be scared of.

"**WHAT?! **You mean to tell me that you _didn't _have todrag me from the hospital!? Do you realise how many crazy stares I was getting from people?!" Sakura exclaimed, attracting some stares from passing visitors.

"Umm... yeah I suppose I didn't _have _to but, I was bored" Ino said bluntly, thanking the ramen owner for the food and broke her chopsticks in two and said 'Itadakimasu' before starting her meal.

Sakura twitched; she _really _could kill Ino some day... but thanked the ramen owner before starting her own meal. It was quiet at first but then Ino started to ramble on about something and Sakura reluctantly listened.

"Hinata's team is suppose to arrive today" Ino commented, finishing off her noodles. Hinata was one of the captains of her own ANBU team; the team consisted of Neji, Tenten, Kiba, Shino, Lee and herself.

"Oh yeah" Sakura mumbled, as she played around with her food. Team, she doesn't have one of those... _anymore _at least. She would always hope at the end of the day they would return... but they never did. Soon after Sakura's hopes became smaller and smaller, until she had realised after almost a year. They _weren't _coming back, at least not any time soon.

Ino gazed over to her friend, and frowned. She wasn't usually this depressed unless she was thinking about _them_; it had almost sickened her about how they had actually left her on her own without even as a goodbye. It was as if they didn't care about Sakura's feelings at all, then again... they were _men_.

"Sakura-chan...? Are you alright—"

Ino was interrupted when suddenly they both heard a 'poof' and looked over to see Shikamaru looking as bored as ever. Sakura blinked before speaking "Shikamaru? What are you doing here?"

"Oh Sakura, I was actually looking for you" He answered before adding "Tsundae wants to speak with you "

Sakura stood up and waved goodbye to Ino as she did some hand signs before 'poofing' with cherry blossoms falling in her place, Ino looked over to Shikamaru before smirking and said goodbye to him before leaving herself.

Shikamaru looked confused for a moment before feeling a light tap on his shoulder, and took the paper that he was giving him. And then he finally realised what it was, it was the bill that _Ino _had left him with.

Girls are so _troublesome_.

-

-

-

Sakura had entered the hokage building and knocked on the door before hearing some papers shuffling and some drawers closing, Sakura sweatdropped as she visualised what was going on inside.

She had most probably had just woken up and was beginning to hide her sake in the drawers, and was just bringing out some random papers so that it would _look _like she was 'working'.

"Enter!"

Sakura twisted the door knob as she walked into the room, it was just as she expected. She _had _just woken up, they was random papers almost everywhere in the room. "Yes Tsundae-sensei? What do you wish to speak to me about?" Sakura spoke, after an awkward moment.

"Oh yes Sakura! I could have sworn I had that paper a minute ago..." the said woman muttered, searching through piles and piles of unorganised papers. Yeah, that was why she arranged her papers in order.

"Ah! Here it is I have a mission for you Sakura" Tsundae stated, as she pulled a paper out of the disordered pile and handed it to Sakura.

Sakura scanned the piece of paper as Tsundae spoke "You will be going to Suna as a medic-nin; I had received a message from them saying that they were having problems with some of the patents, this mission is classed as a A rank mission since it involves at least a month staying there"

"A month?" Sakura echoed, confused that the mission was longer than she had expected.

"Yes, I suggest that if you leave tonight you can get a head start there"

Sakura nodded and she bowed her head "Domo arigato Tsundae-sensei" as she walked out of the room, and Shizune coming in her place looking a _little _frantic. "Tsundae-sama? Is Sakura going on a mission today?"

Tsundae blinked before slowly nodding "Yes Shizune, why do you ask?"

"Tsundae-sama... _they _are returning tonight" She answered, emphasising 'they'. Shizune hadn't realised that she had not remembered that her team was coming home... tonight.

And Sakura was leaving... tonight.

Tsundae's eyes widened before slapping her forehead "Oh crap"

Oh crap **indeed**.

-

-

-

Sakura was currently walking over to the gates; she had spent a good thirty minutes packing her clothes, and other feminine necessities. It was only midday, so she would probably stop somewhere to sleep half way to Suna.

But what she hadn't noticed is that a familiar red head was waiting for her at the gates, and because she didn't _know _she just walked straight past him. He looked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder, and in response she turned around and looked behind her and spotted Gaara.

"Oh Hey Gaara! Sorry, I didn't see you there... what are you doing here?" Sakura said, raising a delicate brow at him obviously oblivious to the fact that _he _was accompanying her on her trip to Suna.

"I'm here to escort you" he replied as if was obvious.

Sakura titled her head before shrugging "Okay Gaara, lead the way!" She suddenly declared, pointing in a random direction.

He shook his head at her... bizarre behaviour and did what he was told, and the two spoke every now and then either to comment on the weather or just to catch up on some other things.

Both not knowing that a certain team would be heading their way... _very _soon.

-

-

-

A Few Hours Later

Four figures jumped from tree to tree, quickly trying to get home as soon as possible.

They missed their teammate, and they _wanted _to see her no matter what.

"Hey Sasuke, what do you think she's like now?" Naruto inquired, wondering about the pink haired beauty.

Sasuke glanced over to his teammate and sighed "Naruto, you've been asking me that question for the past months. And I'm still gonna give you the same answer. **I Don't know**" Sasuke replied, an impassive expression ran across his face.

"Naruto, don't worry we'll see her when we get there" Kakashi assured, giving Naruto a smile.

"But I want to see her _now_!" He whined, frowning for a moment.

Sai looked over to Naruto and smiled, he would always act like a child when Sakura ever entered their conversations. Which happened everyday, but then again they all missed her. Whether they admit to it or not.

"Hey Sasuke, wanna race there?" Naruto said, he was dying to see her. And this seemed like the quickest route than the speed they were going at.

Sasuke smirked before nodding as he began to speed up, and Naruto swiftly catching up. Kakashi and Sai didn't want to be left behind, and they also wanted to get there as soon as possible.

As Naruto ran in front of Sasuke he shouted "Also, whoever loses buys me ramen for an entire **year!**"

But the only thing that was lingering in any of their minds was this,

_We're finally coming to see you, Sakura_.

-

-

-

A/N Oh, I wonder what's gonna happen when they get there and realise that Sakura's not there?

Will they follow her? Maybe? Yes No?

Oh this is actually my very first Naruto NINJA story.

So I hope you guys liked it! And I added in some Japanese ^_^

So yeah... please _**review!**_

Ja Ne!

~Saku-Chan


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Nope! I only own 'The Pain Of A Cherry Blossom!'

Reviewers:

cool44 – Thanks, I'm glad you liked it ^_^ Here's the next update.

PrissyNarutoLover4Ever – Thank you! I'm pleased that you liked it; your review was probably the longest I've had! Yeah to answer your questions, yes this is going to be a Sakura-centric ^_^ Well, I'd say that they are about 17/18 years old, yeah Sasuke did return from Orochimaru or rather Naruto and the others dragged him back! The reason why they took so long on the mission will be revealed some time in later chapters. So to finish, Thanks for reviewing and here's the next chapter!! ^^

Sakura-chan1995 – Thanks! Hope you enjoy this next chapter =D

Demonicsniperkit – Hey, I'm happy that you liked it! I also hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Siah Yasana – Well, they will all meet soon! Maybe in this chapter ^_^ Thank you for reviewing!

Usagi no Hana - Don't worry! She won't forgive them that easily! Thanks I'm glad you liked it!

So yeah, thanks guys for reviewing! =D

And here's the next chapter!!

The Pain Of A Cherry Blossom

Chapter 2

The Meeting

-

-

-

The air was dry and hot, it was common for the weather to be like this in Suna. Unlike in Konoha, where the weather wasn't as _hot _to live in, Suna's landscape was filled with gusting sand and with the occasional sandstorms that travel around the area.

Luckily, there wasn't a sandstorm when Gaara and Sakura were on their way there. But Gaara always kept a close eye on the land in case one was coming their way; the speed that they were moving meant that they were going to make it there earlier than expected.

Sakura's stamina had impressed Gaara, since they had been running for what it seemed hours. She had barely touched her water bottle; instead she would just wipe the sweat from her forehead and would increase her speed rather than decreasing.

But it wasn't a surprise that Sakura had improved over the years, since she had Tsundae as a teacher. This amount of energy that she had was almost inhuman, and her strength was more developed than her younger years. Sakura became more confident in herself since the day she had confided in Tsundae about becoming her apprentice, ever since then she had become more committed to her work – (which explains why she's such a workaholic now) her ninja level had progressed so greatly that she was sometimes compared to Tsundae, who had always been proud of Sakura.

After a few moments, they had finally arrived at the gates and Sakura had a mischievous glint in her eyes as she added one more burst of energy and started to speed up and passed Gaara and gave him a wink before running to the entrance, and once she had entered she lifted her fists in the air and shouted "Yes! I beat you Gaara, now you own me lunch!"

Yes, that was the reason why they were running –all because Sakura wanted Gaara to buy her some lunch, since she did _now _feel hungry after running for so long. But it was worth it to see the disbelief look on Gaara's face, _yeah _and he thought he would of won. Well since he was against Sakura, he should have thought twice before betting with her.

Gaara sighed; he didn't like the feeling of losing. But it couldn't be helped, since she _did _win fair and square. But he didn't mind losing since it meant that he could spend some time with Sakura.

Sakura took a swing of her water bottle and took a few gulps of water before taking it away from her mouth and closed it before gently dropping it into her pouch. It was great knowing that you were a winner instead of being the loser, _yes _Sakura was well known for being competitive.

Gaara walked over to Sakura's side and the pair began to walk over to the tower, Gaara had some paperwork to attend to. And he had a feeling Kankuro wasn't exactly _enjoying _it, since he had heard him complaining about it the minute he had told him.

Thankfully the walk wasn't that far, Sakura was relieved once they had entered the cool air conditioned building. The breezy air felt refreshing as it passed her forehead; they started a conversation once in a while, since it would get awkward if they didn't talk along the way. And once they had reached the floor, Gaara was about to reach for the door knob when he heard a certain brother of his, complaining_ once again_.

"These papers just seem to be piling up every bloody time I check it" Kankuro grumbled, sighing different papers and dropping them on the desk before picking up another.

"Stop grumbling Kankuro! Gosh you don't hear Gaara complaining about it!" Temari lectured

"That's because Gaara_ isn't_ here" He retorted, shaking his head. He was suppose to mean here ages ago, what was taking him so long?

"Oh Kanky be quiet, oh here's something to cheer you up" Kankuro looked up to see Temari dropping _yet another _pile of paperwork on the desk.

"When will the torture end!" Kankuro cried, banging his head on the desk. Which in result made Temari sweatdrop just watching him.

From the other side of the door, Sakura looked over to Gaara "Don't you think we should go in now?" She inquired, feeling sorry for Kankuro, who clearly doesn't like the continuous paperwork.

Gaara shrugged "Hn, sounds like he's suffered enough" he replied, as he opened the door. Kankuro instantly brought his head up and quickly began signing any papers that he could get his hands on, Temari raised an eyebrow at his behaviour before glancing over to Gaara's usual calm figure at the doorway.

"Gaara! Great to see you're back" Temari welcomed, smiling. Her gaze flickered over to the pink haired girl "Sakura, always a pleasure to see you" She said, nodding her head in her direction. Sakura smiled before replying "It's nice to see you aswell Temari"

Kankuro's head snapped up "Sakura-chan? What brings you here?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Temari sighed as she banged a fist on her dim witted brother, "Kankuro, she's here as a medic-nin. She's going to help with the hospitals" She answered, shaking her head. She thought he would learn to not only _sign _the papers but to also _read _the papers.

It definitely wasn't rocket science, so she didn't understand why he didn't know.

Then again, it _is _Kankuro.

"Oh... So does this mean I can finally take a break?" Kankuro asked, now that _Gaara_ was here. Maybe he could do his work so he can _finally_ have a rest.

"I'm afraid not Kankuro, I have to accompany Sakura to the hospital" Gaara answered with a hidden smirk, already walking out of the room with Sakura following behind him.

"I'll see you guys later!" Sakura shouted over her shoulder, as the door closed.

Leaving a depressed Kankuro and a happy Temari, "Oh, isn't she a lovely girl!" She said, smiling.

"Oh yeah, _lovely_" Kankuro muttered, reluctantly picking up the pen and began to write. If she was so _lovely,_ she wouldn't have let Gaara take her and let Temari go so he could go home and sleep.

"Oh Kankuro, look on the bright side. At least Gaara's happy" Temari snapped

"The only thing that makes Gaara _happy_ is when I'm being tortured by signing paperwork" He mumbled, sighing.

"Oh Kanky! Don't be so harsh!" Temari scolded, waving her index finger like a mother would do.

"You know that's the thing that makes me _happy!_" Temari sang, as she dropped yet another pile of paperwork on his desk before skipping out the door and shouting over her shoulder "Have fun brother!"

Kankuro looked at the huge stack of paperwork on his desk, before sighing.

"I _really _hate my life"

-

-

-

Gaara and Sakura didn't really walk to the hospital, since they just 'poofed' there. It meant that they (_Sakura_) didn't have to suffer going outside into the _blazing_ weather.

The hospital reminded Sakura of the one back home, apart from the fact that _this _place was a blinding colour of white.

Gaara lead Sakura to one of the main rooms with the patients that were in terrible conditions, Sakura guessed that some of the wounds had been caused by missions.

"So, this is where you'll be working" Gaara said, showing Sakura the different rooms and she even had her own office like back home. Which was good, since her job mostly included paperwork.

"Thanks Gaara" Sakura replied, smiling

He nodded, a faint blush appearing on his face. He began to walk out of the office, "Gaara, remember. You _owe _me lunch!" Sakura sang, giggling.

Gaara turned around before smirking "I wouldn't miss it for the world" He said, as he closed the door.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she sat down in her chair, beginning to look through patient's files.

Unaware that she would be meeting unwelcomed people soon.

-

-

-

"I can't believe I lost!" Naruto shouted, yes he had lost the bet... to Sasuke, surprise surprise.

"Believe it dope, I'm better than you" Sasuke retorted, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Yeah right Sasuke-teme!" Naruto said, a goofy grin appeared on his face.

Kakashi shook his head as he listened to his teammates argue, they really needed to learn how to shut up every now and then. There were _really _annoying to listen to.

And Sai... well was being Sai. He smiled, and that's about it. He did get into the conversation but would end up getting shouted at so he would usually keep quiet.

So yeah, Team 7 was finally back after almost a year. And they couldn't wait to see Sakura-chan, too bad they didn't arrive earlier though or they could have seen her.

As they passed by, they had earned some surprised stares from some of the villagers and some lustful stares from the ladies. Yes, they had changed both physically and mentally. Well apart from Naruto, he hasn't changed much mentally.

"Hey! Naruto-baka you're finally back!"

Naruto blinked as he looked around until he spotted a familiar looking brown haired guy and grinned, "Hey Kiba! It's great to see you"

Kiba wasn't alone; he was with Neji, Hinata, Lee and Hinata. Shino had already left since they had returned from their mission, and they were going to Ichiraku's to celebrate after succeeding in their mission.

"Naruto-kun" Hinata whispered she couldn't believe it, her crush had finally returned but she somehow couldn't forgive him for leaving Sakura-chan all alone without a team.

So she decided to speak her mind since she thought it would make her feel better, "Naruto, I... I thought you were kind and caring. But you've showed me that you're the complete opposite!" Hinata shouted, her eyes filled with anger and hatred.

Naruto's eyes widened, what was Hinata talking about? But before he could even get a word in, Hinata continued.

"Did you guys _ever _wonder about **Sakura's** feelings before you took this mission?!" Hinata was on the verge of crying, but she wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of her being weak.

Naruto's eyes darkened, how _dare _she even assume that he didn't care about Sakura's feelings?! He loves Sakura; he would never do anything to hurt her. (Too bad he doesn't know he did)

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke demanded, he too didn't understand why she was suddenly shouting at them for leaving Sakura. I mean they were _ninja_, they are suppose to go on missions, besides Sakura had her hands full with the hospital. They didn't want to bother her.

"You didn't realise that she was alone, you could have at least told her you were leaving" Neji had stepped into the conversation; he didn't like the fact that they were getting angry at Hinata because they didn't want to accept the fact that they _had _left Sakura.

"We didn't want her to get worried" Kakashi replied, the answer sounded pathetic in Hinata's eyes.

They didn't _deserve _Sakura as a teammate if she was going to forgive them, but knowing her stubbornness. They wouldn't be forgiven anytime soon.

"Worried? Oh you did more than '_worry_' her!?" Tenten retorted, glaring at Sasuke. He really was a jerk; thank goodness she didn't like him like those mindless fan girls.

"Hey guys! Who are you tal—"Ino said cheerfully until her eyes landed on the team, her eyes narrowed as she joined Hinata. "Why are you here? Haven't you guys done enough damage" Ino growled, she had gotten back from speaking to Shikamaru.

"Get lost Ino" Sai said, the smile that had always occupied his face and turned into a death glare.

"You have some nerve coming back; besides what _are _you doing back"

"We're here because of Sakura" Sasuke replied as if it was obvious.

Ino blinked before smirking, Hinata looked over to Ino "What's wrong Ino-chan?" Hinata wondered why Ino was acting strange all of a sudden.

"Well, let's just say that Sakura-chan isn't here right now" Ino sang, which _was_ true since she had a mission in Suna.

"Where's Sakura-chan?" Naruto snarled, wanting to know where the pink haired beauty was.

Ino smiled "She's on a mission" She replied, not realising that they were about to leave.

Then the males had 'poofed' off, leaving behind the guys with shocked expressions.

"Oh god, Sakura's going to kill me" Ino groaned, slapping her forehead. Hinata smiled reassuringly at her "Don't worry Ino-chan, Sakura-chan smart enough to know _not _to forgive them!"

"I hope you're right Hinata" Ino replied, giving the girl a weak smile.

-

-

-

The males had arrived at the Hokage tower and were outside Tsundae's office. Waiting for her to let them in, this had happened moments after.

"Tsunade-baa-chan! We want a mission which includes going to Suna!" Naruto shouted, slamming his hands on the desk.

Tsunade twitched; Naruto was _really _pushing his luck. "I'm sorry Naruto, there are not mission required in Suna" She replied

"There must be something!" Naruto whined, giving her the 'puppy dog look'.

Sasuke rolled his eyes while Kakashi shook his head, that boy was too damn annoying for his own good.

"Well, we do have one mission. But it shouldn't take too long to do" Tsunade said, shuffling through papers.

Naruto smiled as he folded his arms across his chest, now all they had to do was do whatever the mission said and see Sakura-Chan!

"Ah, here is it. All you have to do is bring some medical supplies there, it shouldn't take less than a day or two there" She informed, beginning to sort out her papers as she looked up to see that they had disappeared?

"Oh that's just nice, leaving before even saying 'Hi Tsunade how was _your _day?' That's not _that _hard to say?!" Tsunade muttered, sipping her sake.

-

-

-

Gaara didn't return back to Kankuro, since he knew he would try to get him to do the paperwork. Which he didn't exactly feel like doing at the moment, but he knew that he had to go there _eventually_.

He entered his office where an annoyed Kankuro sat, still signing those papers. Gaara _almost _felt sorry for him, but at least now he knew how he felt when he had to do paperwork.

Then again Kankuro didn't have to do it _every day_.

"Kankuro, you can go home now. I'll take over" Gaara stated

Kankuro blinked "Really? You mean it?" He replied, a little wary that Gaara was _actually _being nice to him. Maybe it was an off day?

"Yeah, now leave before I change my mind"

Kankuro almost ran out of the room, he needed to get Temari back for giving him _piles _and _piles _of paperwork.

Gaara sighed; this was going to take a while. But on the bright side, after he finishes this. He gets to see Sakura-chan.

He began to sign papers until he felt a strange presence in the building but shrugged it off, not thinking that it was important.

After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door. Gaara's wasn't expecting anyone, but told whoever it was to come in.

The door opened to reveal, Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi and Sai.

Gaara's eyes hardened, why were _they _here? Was it because Sakura was here? Well he wasn't going to let them get close to Sakura, and break her heart again.

"What are you doing here?" Gaara questioned, he kept his voice controlled but his face expression said it all.

Naruto blinked "Gaara? What's wrong with you? Don't tell me you're mad at us too!" Naruto said, his eyes had a glint of pain that even his friend was against him.

"If you're here to see Sakura, then I'm sure she wouldn't want to see you"

"What makes you so sure that she wouldn't?" Sasuke questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"You had _left _her almost a year ago" Gaara answered bluntly

"Because of our mission" Kakashi replied almost casually.

"But why didn't you tell her you were leaving?"

"Because we didn't want to see her get hurt" Sai said, an impassive expression appeared on his face.

"Are you insulating that Sakura _is_ weak?" Gaara deadpanned, they had no right saying that. They didn't know how much Sakura had improved over a few months; it was pretty impressive how dedicated she was in her work. But her reason _why _she was because she wanted to be accepted by these low lifes, in Gaara's opinion they didn't deserve such a loyal teammate.

"No! Of course not, but Gaara... please how is she?" Naruto voiced, his eyes were pleading.

But before Gaara could even decline there was a voice at the door.

"Well, why don't you ask her that yourself?"

Yes, the voice was no other than _Sakura_.

-

-

-

AN/ Oh they finally meet! But what will Sakura do...?

Aw Kankuro! I felt sorry for him. All that paperwork *Shudders*

And Gaara has to get Sakura lunch aswell! Wow, I sense chaos now that Team 7 males are here!

So yeah! I hoped this satisfies you!

Ja Ne!

~Saku-Chan xoxo


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Nope I don't own Naruto! But I do own this story ^^

Recap: 

"_Are you insulating that Sakura is weak?" Gaara deadpanned, they had no right saying that. They didn't know how much Sakura had improved over a few months; it was pretty impressive how dedicated she was in her work. But her reason why she was because she wanted to be accepted by these low life's, in Gaara's opinion they didn't deserve such a loyal teammate._

"_No! Of course not, but Gaara... please how is she?" Naruto voiced, his eyes were pleading_

_But before Gaara could even decline there was a voice at the door._

"_Well, why don't you ask her that yourself?"_

_Yes, the voice was no other than Sakura._

The Pain Of A Cherry Blossom 

Chapter 3

Lunch and Jealous Teammates

-

-

-

There she was, the girl that had plagued their minds the entire time they were away. The same girl that they would do anything for, the same girl that they were completely and utterly devoted to.

Too bad for them, that girl didn't feel the same.

"Sakura-Chan!" Naruto cried, his eyes no longer pleading but held a glint of desperation. He didn't seem aware of the fact that Sakura wasn't looking in _his _direction... he was just in the way of Sakura's view of Gaara.

Naruto was the only person who was able to break out of the daze that Sakura had unintentionally stunned her ex-teammates just by standing at the door and gracing them with her mere presence.

"Gaara, I've started healing most of the seriously wounded patients and the nurses there told me I could take a break." Sakura explained, not really paying attention to Naruto's pathetic attempts of pleading for her to forgive him.

Sakura didn't really expect for her old team to come back, she wondered why they would assume that she would have stayed in Konoha and welcomed them with open arms and forgive them like they had done absolutely nothing wrong. Which they were obviously oblivious to that fact that they _did _leave her, without even leaving her a note on the refrigerator!

She wouldn't have minded that, as long as they had actually bothered to inform her so that she wouldn't have found out _weeks _after they had left.

Truth was Sakura was truly surprised that she didn't hug them or even acknowledge them for this matter. Since she was known for being the 'caring' type, but in this case she just didn't think it was necessary to make an effort to be happy and act like everything was perfectly fine but really, the situation wasn't fine and dandy instead Sakura decided to treat them how they had treated her for the past year. So like the saying goes, treat others the way you want to be treated. So if they wanted to treat her like she was _so_ weak that she couldn't even handle one mission, then why should she even waste her breath on them?

Gaara nodded in understanding before his gaze flickered towards the team seven males, his eyes narrowed in annoyance as they were _still _in the room. As if waiting for Sakura to magically turn perky and smile as if they had never left, the nerve! He was just on the verge of making them leave himself seeing as they seemed that they wouldn't go without a fight.

"Okay Sakura, thanks for letting me know."

Sakura flashed him a quick smile before briefly glancing over to her old team, no smile was used as she looked over in their direction. Only a visible glare was sent their way and that was all Sakura was willing to spare as she turned towards Gaara. Inwardly smirking as she watched sideways as Naruto and Sasuke's eyes widened while Sai and Kakashi stayed entirely emotionless, which Sakura did expect Sasuke to be aswell.

"Gaara, I was wondering if you wanted to go for lunch now since I'm on my break" Sakura inquired, knowing that Gaara couldn't refuse since she had won the bet. The thought of it still creates a smile on her lips; she had always been comfortable with Gaara –apart from the time when he had tried to kill her... but he did manage to make it up for her in the end so Sakura didn't mind spending time with him.

Then at that moment, _all _of the team seven males' eyes were widened and their jaws dropped to a reasonable level; but Gaara decided to pay no attention to them as he focused on Sakura.

"Sure Sakura, just wait a moment" Gaara answered, as he abruptly stood up from his seat and was out of the room in a second, leaving behind the paperwork slightly lifting from the speed due to Gaara rushing to exit the room, leaving Sakura alone with the males.

There was awkward silence after Gaara had left, which Sakura was mentally cursing since she didn't exactly want to be with her ex teammates without support, specifically _Gaara_. And speaking of Gaara... where the heck was he?

"So...Sakura-Chan" Naruto began, his voice full of hope and faith but Sakura couldn't pull herself together enough to meet his gaze, his pleading cerulean orbs were something that Sakura was hoping to avoid since she could never say no to his puppy dog-like stare. And she wasn't going to let him take advantage of her small little weak spot.

Naruto's hope seemed to weaken as Sakura didn't respond, fearing that she too had turned on him. He didn't want to his Sakura-Chan to hate him aswell, and so his spirit was replenished with the thoughts of Sakura-Chan giving him the smile that he had always loved.

"Sakura-Chan...Please, don't ignore me. Say something!" Naruto begged, as he reached out his hand to touch Sakura's hand but she had snatched her hand away before he could barely get a chance to grasp it. Sakura decided that she couldn't block him out forever and settled on telling them straight what she had thought of them, since her rage has grown after the long period of time and she felt that she should let some of it out since she had to enlighten them on how they had abandoned her without even a single goodbye.

"Naruto...I thought I could trust you" Sakura said firmly, as she momentarily closed her eyes as the familiar depressing memories shot through her head making her instantly opening her eyes but not making it obvious that her tears were on the limit of breaking any moment, she didn't want them to sense her sudden change in mood so she turned towards Naruto, her face blank but was struggling with her emotions attempting to break out.

"You were suppose to be my friend" Sakura continued, although her face was completely emotionless her eyes couldn't hide the pain and suffering that had been caused by her 'friends'. Then she grew slightly annoyed at the fact that Gaara still hadn't returned from...whenever he went. He should have stayed here so she wouldn't have to handle constant empty apologizes.

"Sakura, what are you talking about?" Sasuke interrupted before Naruto could even get a word in, he wasn't going to let Naruto get closer to his Sakura at least not if he has anything to say about it.

Sakura's gaze turned briefly in the direction of Sasuke, her one and only love or at least she _used _to love him until he was consumed by revenge and desired power so that he could avenge his family –which she didn't blame him of course since if she had to live through watching her entire family die right in front of her eyes she would be obsessed with vengeance.

But even when he had been _forced _to return back to Konoha, instead of seeing him as a love interest –he just seemed like a brother to her. Since she didn't want to get her hopes up for nothing...again, and well she had just given up on romance since she thought it was just 'too overrated'.

Sighing, Sakura inwardly frowned at the thought of Sasuke stepping onto an _actually _conversation. "Sasuke, don't you even realise that you had just...left me out the mission? I'm not weak anymore you know." Sakura stated, slight exasperation lacing her words.

"I didn't say you were it's just you seem... more distant than usual." Sasuke replied, giving her a stern look as if he didn't believe that Sakura would act like this. Because without Sakura, their team wouldn't be the same! She's the person that holds them altogether, like when Naruto and he would fight she could always be the peacemaker and would attempt to help them out which would always work since they know they could refuse their Sakura.

"Distant?" Sakura repeated confused, but then laughed bitterly before resuming "How _dare _you call me distant, when _you guys _were the ones who decided that I couldn't manage one little mission. You didn't even bother to tell me! Do you even know how it feels to be betrayed by your own team? No! Didn't think so" Sakura was almost at screaming point, but controlled her temper as she told her team exactly how she felt. She was barely on the verge of loosing her anger and doing something that she knows she'll regret.

However before Sakura could even do anything, she felt a hand clutch her wrist and dared to look into the eyes of no one other than her old sensei –Kakashi. She could already see his Sharingan was activated, but that didn't change her motive to break free from his iron-like grip. "Sakura, trust us we had no intention of hurting you. It is just we couldn't bear to see you get hurt" Kakashi explained, but Sakura could detect a hint of depression leaking in his voice.

"Sakura-Chan... please forgive us, we missed you" Naruto held Sakura's free hand and offered one of his cheerful grins, but even though his grin felt contagious it didn't seem to rub off on Sakura. She just knew that she couldn't fight them all by singlehandedly, even if she had attempted on convincing herself that she couldn't hurt them, even if they were her ex teammates.

Sasuke and Sai had decided to not let Kakashi and Naruto take advantage of the their vulnerable precious Sakura, and were instantly, silently at her side making sure that they wouldn't do anything since knowing those two –since they _were _the most perverted of the four and who knows what horrible unspeakable things that they could do on their poor Sakura!

Stepping aside from those thoughts, they stood up straight and watched Kakashi and Naruto's every move so that they wouldn't miss anything, though Sakura was unaffected by their purposes of trying to get her attention since she was used to it from the old days and just thought nothing of it but a friendly discussion.

Yeah, friendly discussion my ASS.

"Sakura, I'm back—. "

Said girl looked over by the door to see a seething Gaara, oh she had almost forgotten about him! But yeah, the scene didn't look good from Gaara's point of view –which looked like they were about to molest the unknowing Sakura. Gaara had only left the building for a mere few minutes just to get the unwilling Kankuro so that he could finish off the paperwork and he comes back to find _four _males crowding around Sakura as if planning something sinister... It was just despicable, and just plainly disgusting that Sakura was just completely unaware of the situation.

Just typical of her to be oblivious at this moment!

"Oh Gaara, where were did you go off to?" Sakura inquired, raising a curious brow as she watched Gaara's unusual reactions as she had felt a murderous aura radiating from him but couldn't understand the reason that would explain his abrupt change in character.

"I just had to get Kankuro, so we could go to lunch" Gaara answered bitterly, while sending his famous 'death glare' towards the team seven males. Kankuro inwardly shivered being the unlucky one who was standing near Gaara and could just barely feel the hatred that was practically exuding from his body.

"Oh alright I guess... well then shall we?" Sakura replied, effortlessly breaking out of the males' grip and stepping over to Gaara offering him a friendly smile.

Gaara's deadly aura had melted once Sakura had given him a true smile, something that was one of his favourite features about her that would always make the ends of his lips twitch and although as corny as it sounds; she made him feel like there were butterflies in his stomach.

"We shall" Gaara extended his hand out to Sakura in a gentleman like fashion and Sakura gladly accepted it as they scrolled out of the room, as the team seven males _and _Kankuro watched the happy 'couple' wandered out of the room and into the hallway -with Kankuro not paying attention of the glares that were sent in Gaara's direction.

Kankuro chuckled lightly, it wasn't everyday that he saw his baby brother in a lovesick daze.

"Heh, girls' right?" Kankuro joked, as he turned around to face _nothing _but air.

Sighing, he dragged his feet towards the desk to find the infamous pile of paperwork with a yellow sticky note attached to the papers. Kankuro picked the object up and read it aloud;

"Remember when sighing Kankuro, **don't** use purple ink"

Kankuro muttered something under his breath as he carelessly dropped the note onto the desk and walked around before sitting down and starting the torture-like work as he muttered "Stupid Gaara, he _knows_ purple is my favourite colour"

-

-

-

"Gaara, are you sure this is okay? I mean we're only having lunch" Sakura nervously searched the room, and by the looks of it –this place look gave her the impression that it was mostly couples that attended this extravagant restaurant.

Gaara nodded in approval, "Yes, this is where I would usually eat regardless if I have company or not" He clarified, a small smile began to tug at the ends of his lips as Sakura nodded in understanding and started taking a quick browse of the menu.

There was an awkward silence, with the rare occasion of a conversation including topics about the weather but that obviously didn't last long considering that it was just basically hot outside –nothing else to mention really.

"Hey Gaara, do the waiters usually take this long?" Sakura inquired, confused that the servers had just seemed to ignore their table completely...and that added to her suspicious of something definitely wasn't right. Gaara raised his head from scanning the menu before merely shrugging, explaining that they were just busy serving the other customers.

However, just a few minutes had passed a waiter had finally walked over to their table and snapped out a small notepad with a pen who looked ready to scribble down their orders. Although, he didn't seem to be leaving any time soon as soon as he arrived his gaze hasn't broken from looking almost lovingly at the oblivious Sakura who had earned a glare in return from a certain red head.

"Good day Kazekage-sama and May I know the name of this beautiful lady?" He questioned, his grin gave him the appearance of a playful fox and with his familiar cerulean eyes that seemed to be hold an unknown dark emotion that seemed to suggest something else underneath his words.

Sakura played along as she giggled "Name's Sakura, and yours?" She replied, adding a sweet smile while noticing Gaara's hasty change in mood as his hand began to twitch every now and then. The waiter lightly chuckled as he brought Sakura's hand towards him and gently kissed it in a gentleman-like manner, not breaking eye contact for a second as he returned her hand and reluctantly let go of it.

Outside The Restaurant

-

-

"Damn that baka! I just knew he could easily get caught!" Sasuke cursed as he watched the scene with Kakashi and Sai, he had a feeling that if Naruto was the waiter then his 'strong' feelings for Sakura would get in the way –which happened to be pretty obvious since all he was doing was flirting with her with Gaara struggling to not kill him.

"Oh well, since it isn't going well...maybe I should be the waiter!" Kakashi suggested, beginning to get up from his crouched position in the bush –since it was the only thing that was closest to the restaurant... _and_ because they wanted to keep an eye on Naruto.

"Don't think so" Sasuke retorted, reacting quick as he pulled his old sensei down so that Sakura wouldn't notice him and won't get too suspicious. Kakashi huffed as he crossed him arms over his chest stubbornly, he didn't want Gaara let alone Naruto be the only ones around _his_ Sakura-Chan.

"We cannot just barge in there, we have to wait" Sasuke answered Kakashi's thoughts as he suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, as Sai just stayed quiet as usual but felt the same as Kakashi, they shouldn't just sit here and do nothing as Naruto continues to flirt with Sakura but Sasuke was right. They shouldn't just walk in there without Sakura seeing them and becoming wary of what their intentions are.

Kakashi didn't like the feeling that he couldn't do anything, so as his teammates' stared in Sakura's direction obviously distracted and took the opportunity to leave as he quickly made his way away from the area before making a clone and directing it towards Sasuke and Sai who seemed to be not even aware that his presence had left.

Smirking, he walked around the corner of the restaurant and instantly took note of the 'Kitchen' sign on the door before putting his hands together and made some speedy hand signs before finally there was a 'poof' which had a small amount of smoke surrounding the alleyway. The smoke eventually drifted away as Kakashi stepped out to reveal himself in a chef-like outfit, and walked into the kitchen and thought to himself 'I'm not going to let Naruto have all the fun', the smirk still in place.

Back with Sasuke and Sai, they still managed to miss out the fact that Kakashi had successfully slipped out and made a clone as if he had never left their hiding spot.

"Hn, its quiet...too quiet" Sasuke commented, his gaze flickering over from Sakura to his companions. He wasn't surprised that Sai wasn't talking but for Kakashi, this must have been a world record or something considering the fact that Kakashi's patience isn't that good when it came to things other than missions.

Sai nodded his vision on Sakura stopped as he watched the unusually quiet Kakashi. Pulling out a kunai and threw in his direction as 'Kakashi' didn't act fast enough as the sharp object landed in his arm before 'poofing' and leaving smoke starting to form from the bush. Thus causing Sasuke and Sai's eyes to widen as they managed to escape from the scene before people began to check the smoke.

Sasuke cursed at Kakashi as Sai was... well Sai "Great, now we have to clean up their bloody mess." Sasuke shook his head, sometimes he wondered if his teammates even owned a brain.

"Well look on the bright side, Sakura will probably beat Naruto and Kakashi's guts because technically we didn't do anything." Sai stated, ignoring the stern look Sasuke gave him.

"Yes, I do tend to talk every once in a while." Sai deadpanned, as he watched Sakura while _still _ignoring Sasuke's famous 'death glare'.

-

-

-

"Here is your order Kazekage-sama, Miss Sakura." Naruto said, picking up the plates and carefully laying them onto the table while flashing Sakura a toothy grin.

"Thank you, Gaara are you okay? You haven't spoken the entire time." Sakura's attention went to her silent red haired companion; her eyes were filled with abrupt concern as she watched Gaara's usual behaviour.

"I'm fine." Gaara replied, his voice monotone. He wasn't jealous because this waiter just decided it would be _just _fine to flirt with Sakura-Chan. Gaara doesn't _do _jealously, he just feels like using his sand with strangle his idiot. But that wouldn't be good with his now good reputation with the people in Suna...and Sakura wouldn't talk to him because of his 'unreasonably' behaviour.

But to Gaara, Sakura was _so _much worth than Suna. Yes, though in denial. He was _definitely _jealous.

Sakura gave him a sceptical look before shrugging it off and starting her meal with Gaara following her, "So Sakura-Chan, would you want to go out with me sometime?" Naruto inquired, the mere thought of him getting the chance to go out with his beloved Sakura would be like having _all _the ramen in the world, _wow_ good comparison.

"Sorry, but I'm not dating at the moment." Sakura gave a muffled reply; she didn't really know this guy would want to go with a girl with a lack of knowledge when it came to romance and whatnot. But apparently, this guy didn't seem to mind which was sweet...but still annoying.

"Oh." He said, disappointment leaking in his voice. Naruto's thoughts of happy dates had completely burst with that rejection, he had to admit –he did expect it since Naruto wasn't being Naruto but the waiter and well if she had known this then she probably wouldn't want anything to do with him which really lowered his mood.

Sakura quickly catched on his change in mood as hurriedly thought of a good excuse so that he wouldn't be mislead that she didn't like him –it was just she wasn't really want to have to deal with any romantic-related thing anymore, due to the fact that one heartbreak was enough and wasn't fully healed.

"It's not that I don't like you! It's just I'm currently not looking for a boyfriend." Sakura explained as best as she could, so it wouldn't sound like it yet another rejection. But sadly, in Naruto's point of view she was oblivious that she had just made it even worse.

"Oh." Naruto repeated, adding a deliberate sniff like a child would when he had got told off secretly hoping that she would take pity on him and reconsider her answer, which wasn't exactly a good idea. Sakura blinked then frowned, mostly guys who had got rejected would left and go to the next girl –but why wasn't this guy going? Didn't he have a job to do?

"Look, why don't you go find another girl. I'm sure you'll get a date then." Sakura said bluntly, not noticing that she was a _little _harsh but she was the type of girl to say what's on her mind. Gaara couldn't help but smirk as her stern reply, he had been listening to the conversation and let Sakura handle it since this guy was a complete amateur.

Giving up of being constantly rejected, he nodded and walked away from the table and disappeared around the corner and 'poofed' out of the building, only to reappear next to Sasuke and Sai in the bush and to be punched by Sasuke for flirting shamelessly with Sakura. While Sai just watched from the sidelines, smiling... as usual.

The pinkette turned to Gaara who still was smirking at...nothing, which did in result freak her out a little bit. She had already finished her lunch and it seemed that Gaara had also finished, and was beginning to stand up but was interrupted by a loud call from the direction of the kitchen and suddenly, a familiar white haired male ran out barely missing hot water being thrown at him along with some food.

"Kakashi?" Sakura muttered questioningly, as she continued to watch her old sensei sprint for his life and outside. Leaving behind dismayed and troubled guests as they quickly made their own out of the restaurant with left Sakura and Gaara alone, Sakura chuckled "Well, this was interesting" while Gaara nodded in agreement but didn't expect what Sakura was going to do next as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek before winking "Thanks, I really needed this considering what had happened today"

Gaara had a hint of blush running across his face as he gave her a hushed reply "It's alright" as he looked away, embarrassed at the fact that _he _Gaara had actually blushed over a measly kiss on the cheek! But then again, he could live with it because it was Sakura.

"I better get back to the hospital; I'll see you at dinner Gaara?" Sakura inquired, as she walked over to her door with her hand on the door knob.

The red haired nodded as Sakura waved goodbye before finally departing the building as he smirked 'Well _that _was definitely interesting'.

-

-

-

A/N Hey guys! I'm _really_ sorry for this late update, but I had some exams last week so I had somehow managed to do it today ^^!

So if you want, you can include these questions in your reviews! If you do include them, I'll be very grateful!

1. How do you like the length of the chapter? Should it be longer or shorter?

2. Did you enjoy this chapter?

3. Should I include the Akatsuki in the next update?

4. If I were to make another story, what should it be based on? –Ouran High School Host Club, Kingdom Hearts, Yu-Gi-Oh or if you want to suggest something, feel free =D

5. Which would you rather chocolate or cakes? (Yeah I know random but I ran out of questions!)

Reviewers: 

Natasha: Thank you! I hope you enjoy this chapter ^^

xxbochixx: Thanks! Well at the moment, it's a Sakura-centric! Yeah it's nice to know that at least Gaara hadn't left her xD

fantasywolfprincesskira: I'm glad you loved it! Thanks for reviewing =D

Siah Yasana: Yeah I'd said! But I think she was turning soft in this chapter _

???: Thanks for reviewing!

CrazyGreyWolfGirl: Aw your reviews are awesome! Thanks, hope you enjoy this chapter!

Sakura-chan1995: Thanks for reading & reviewing!

Insaneanimelover: Here's the next update! Hope you like it ^^

So yeah, I hope you guys the chapter!

Please Review or story alert or favourite!

Thanks xD!

~Saku-Chan


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** No, I don't own Naruto.

**Recap:**

_Gaara had a hint of blush running across his face as he gave her a hushed reply "It's alright" as he looked away, embarrassed at the fact that __he __Gaara had actually blushed over a measly kiss on the cheek! But then again, he could live with it because it was Sakura._

"_I better get back to the hospital; I'll see you at dinner Gaara?" Sakura inquired, as she walked over to her door with her hand on the door knob._

_The red haired nodded as Sakura waved goodbye before finally departing the building as he smirked 'Well __that __was definitely interesting'._

**A/N:** Wow, it's been four months since I last updated! Sorry for the long wait guys, I admit –I did have some writer's block on this particular story! But it's gone now :D So I hope you guys will forgive me and enjoy the chapter ^^

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**The Pain of a Cherry Blossom**

**Chapter 4**

**Akatsuki Appears **

-

-

-

It was about ten o'clock when Sakura had successfully finished her days' work, she scribbled some quick notes down on the paper before settling onto the neat pile of paperwork. The pinkette sighed in relief, lazily leaning back in her seat as she momentarily closed her eyes, exhaustion finally taking its tone as she reluctantly stood up from her seat and stretched her arms over her head.

"Ah, a good days work." She mused, a small smile curling at the end of her lips as she walked over to the door before swiftly shutting off the switch as darkness was casted all around the room. Sakura sighed as the previous events flowed into her mind, she inwardly smiled as the though of Team seven being reunited again. But slowly, those hopeful thoughts vanished and as soon as they appeared and were replaced with an anxious idea of the slightest chance of them taking off on another mission, leaving her alone and abandoned again.

She subconsciously bit her lip, in a poor attempt to stop the threatening tears that were about to stream down her cheeks. She didn't _want _to hate them, regardless of what they had done to her. But somehow, she couldn't convince herself enough to forgive them. Sakura sighed, her hand placed on the door handle, quickly opened the door as light evaded the dark consumed room before closing it and proceeded to walk through the silence building.

Her eyes were clouded by unreadable emotions as she passed by countless rooms, where the patients slept soundly. She eventually came to the children's section, where there were rarely any stayed overnight. They were never severely injured like the older patients, who had received life risking damages to their body due to their assisted missions.

Nevertheless, Sakura treated the children as any medic-nin would. They would soon grow up to become great shinobi and would do anything to fight for their hometown. She smiled at the thought, as she walked towards the entrance of the hospital. Her mood instantly brightened, as her previous thoughts had quickly faded away.

But once she left the cool, air conditioned building, she immediately regretted this decision as the overly heated air brushed her skin, instantly making an effect as she walked towards the Kazekage tower. Where Gaara was most probably working on those growing piles of paperwork, with his bothersome siblings constantly hanging over his shoulder.

She chuckled softly; eventually the heat got to her, and couldn't bring herself to walk all the way there and decided to 'poof' there. Once she arrived on the doorstep, she let herself inside with a soft click and heard some crashes coming from where she assumed was the kitchen and suddenly, smoke started clouding the air, and also Sakura's vision.

"Temari, what have you done now?" Kankuro's exasperated shout rang through her ears, as a strangled cough escaped her lips while she attempted to wave away the smoke from her. "Hey! Don't blame me, I only took my eyes off the stove for a _minute _and suddenly there was a _poof_ and then I found it burning!" Temari shouted back as Sakura peeped inside the room, Kankuro and Temari were attempting to put the small fire out while calling Gaara downstairs.

"It's wasn't a minute Temari! Try_ ten _minutes, while you were daydreaming about that pineapple haired guy!" Kankuro teased, as he threw a wet towel over the steaming pot. Sighing in relief as it was finally put out, while Temari was flushing with embarrassment. "I don't daydream about him!" She protested, glaring at her brother. "And his name is Shikamaru, baka!"

"Yeah, whatever you say, sis." He snickered in response, only to receive a hard slap on the head from his annoyed sister. Sakura inwardly decided that it probably would be best just to head off to her bedroom to avoid the chaos that about to stir in the kitchen, besides missing dinner wouldn't hurt her right?

"Sakura?" Gaara called, instantly startling the pinkette, who had just been caught as she was about to sneak off to her room. "Uh, Gaara! I was just heading to—"Sakura paused for a moment, quickly think her answer. "The bathroom..." She trailed off, leaving an awkward silence as she inwardly cursed herself for giving such a lame excuse.

Gaara blinked, before shrugging nonchalantly. "Oh, well why don't you join us for dinner?" He inquired, arching an eyebrow as Sakura visibly fidgeted uncomfortably. "Umm, I wouldn't want to intrude." She attempted to excuse herself, only to receive a reassuring rare smile from the redhead. "You wouldn't be intruding, besides Temari and Kankuro would love for you to join us."

Sakura returned the smile, as Gaara descended down the stairs and took her hand in his and leaded her towards the kitchen, where the pair was still in the midst of their conversation to notice the appearance of the couple. "Temari, what _were _you cooking anyway?" Kankuro inquired, poking the burned contents of the pan with a fork. Temari huffed, clearly insulted by her brother's lack of support.

"Well, it was supposed to be pasta." She admitted sheepishly, as Kankuro shook his head. How hard was it to cook _pasta_? Apparently, it was difficult for Temari. Heck, even _he _could do it! And Kankuro wasn't a good cook either, but he did –was _forced_ to cook most nights.

"Hmm, Temari burned the food again?" Gaara questioned, mostly to his brother, his hand still holding onto Sakura's. The puppeteer seemed to notice this and grinned at the sight, his baby brother was finally growing up! He could feel comical tears of joy beginning to pour out, but somehow found the strength to retrain them as Gaara glared at him.

"Okay, I did not _burn _the food. It was—"

"The food's fault." Gaara and Kankuro finished, throwing deadpan stares in their sister's direction. Temari huffed childishly as she crossed her arms over her chest in a stubborn like manner.

"You're mean." She whined, as she slyly reached out to grab the oblivious pinkette away from her brothers. "Sakura-chan! They're being mean to me!" Temari pouted, pointing in their direction. Inwardly smirking, when she noticed a sad expression appearing on Gaara's face, while Kankuro had a couldn't-really-care-less expression, which eventually caused Temari to twitch in annoyance.

Sakura, being the nice person she was, instead of being forced to choose a side –decided to suggest something, so that everyone would be happy.

"Uh, why don't we just forget about this argument and order takeout?" Sakura smiled nervously, instantly grabbing a random a takeout leaflet from the counter. Kankuro agreed, willing to have a change from Temari's excuse for food –no offense to her of course, but he honestly couldn't stand it. The sandy blonde smiled at the pink haired, who she had always thought of as her younger sister. While Gaara was seemingly content with the decision.

Temari smiled evilly; maybe it was time for a little matchmaking?

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I miss Sakura-chan!" Naruto collapsed onto the bed, continuing to whine about the missing pink haired girl of their team. The others merely shook their heads, of course they were missing her, but they weren't about to whine that she wasn't here –with them.

They were currently inside of a hotel, which just _happened_ to the closet to the Kazekage tower. It was pretty obvious that they weren't exactly going to just wait somewhere else in the village while their Sakura is with that damned redhead, why couldn't she see that they were sorry? It wasn't like they _didn't _want to take her along for the mission, but there were many risks of her getting severely hurt, was it so wrong for them for wanting to protect her?

"We all do baka." Sasuke sighed, his onyx eyes lazily searching through the village, his gaze locked on the tower that held the highly desired girl. His thoughts momentarily clouded from his younger years, where Sakura constantly pursued him, along with all his other raging fan girls.

Ah, although he would've denied it back then, he did harbor some feelings for the pink haired girl –now woman. He lowered his head, a small smile curled on his face with the mere thought of her. Sasuke had to admit, he was foolish as year after year had passed by, he was oblivious to his own feelings –as the only emotion that burned within him was revenge.

Sakura had already given up on him by the time he had realized his feelings towards her, so he didn't think it would've been best to confess to her then. And still, after all these years, his feelings for her were still fully in tact.

Sai, a person who wasn't very experienced with anything emotion related, didn't know how to express his growing affections for the medic-nin of their team. Sure, he knew how to charm girls –unintentionally of course. But whenever it involved Sakura, he just couldn't ever say anything right –like giving her the nickname _ugly_, which still haunts him until his day. He was looking through his sketch book, where the drawings were mostly Sakura. All throughout the entire mission, when it was his turn to take watch at night, he would always spend most of his time drawing her.

Kakashi ignored everyone, as he read his infamous book. But his thoughts always seemed to drift away from his surroundings, including his favourite book of all time. Truth be told, he didn't think of Sakura in the way the does now in her genin days. But eventually, in time he did see her in a different light as she grew older.

He sighed, she probably didn't notice him the way he did with her. It was something he had to live with, but also something that he could change in time. Although he did have a tendency of going for the more, _developed _women, he did harbor a strong attraction for both her intelligent mind...and her body.

Which made some rather _quick _changes through the years; it wasn't soon before she grew into a highly desired woman, who was both envied by gorgeous women but was also admired deeply by her determination in both work and her missions, by always using all the strength that she had to ensure that her team was never hurt severely.

His mask crinkled, indicating that he held a smile that was hidden by his mask. Sakura had always had a caring nature that he had always liked about her.

Lastly, there was Naruto. He had always held a soft spot for the pinkette, ever since their genin days. She of course knew about his crush on her but didn't seem to acknowledge him –as she was completely and utterly devoted to Sasuke at the time, along with all his other fan girls. But eventually, that little crush grew into something more, when Sakura would ever greet him in the mornings (this was the time when she gradually gave up on Sasuke, so it was basically a happy time for him) he would always get that little flutter, and he knew that she was the one for him. And _no one_ else's.

_Yes_, he did have a childish crush on her that would've normally blown away after a couple or so days passed. But it never did, it stayed there until this very day. But it wasn't just some stupid crush now, no. It gradually grew every day, of every moment into what it was now –love. He could never get that goofy grin off his face whenever he thought about her; she was the only person who had that effect on him.

The room was in complete silence, as the four males were consumed by their plagued thoughts of only one particular girl. But if there was one thing was sure, that was that one way for another, they _were _going to get her back. And eventually gain both her trust and her love. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"So, when are we going to capture her Itachi?" The said male's partner inquired, his sharp eyes searching through the endless pits of sand that flowed around the air.

"Soon, Kisame." He answered simply, his eyes closed. They were sitting in one of the caves on the outskirts of Suna, where they were waiting for the right moment to capture the well known apprentice of Tsunade.

"Well, we best get her back soon to headquarters. Pein doesn't like to be kept waiting." Kisame grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Like I said before Kisame, we just have to wait for the right time." Itachi spoke, revealing his onyx eyes that held small glints of red as he tiredly looked over to the gushing sandstorms that were roaming outside of the cave.

Kisame rolled his eyes; Itachi would never give straight answers, regardless of the question. He would just speak in riddles, as if he actually thought Kisame understood them.

'Hmm, well soon better be tomorrow'

-

-

-

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

**A/N2: **Ah, this is finally posted. Again, I apologize for the late update! But I had some really bad writer's block -_- But thankfully, I'm over it now :D

Now, I just wanted to let you guys know that I have a poll waited to be answered on my profile/webpage –whatever you want to call it. And I have been waiting for someone to vote for the winner –which is either between Kiba and Sasori at the moment. (This is about my new story) So please, if you can vote on my poll! Thanks :)

My reviewers :D

Animeluv-chan, Shady C. Pawz, CrazyGreyWolfGirl, xxbochixx, ???, Siah Yasana, 9tailedemonfoxonbu, xladykittyx, Lz, Tropical-Breeze95, VALLED, deixsaku and fanpire329!

Thanks for reviewing guys! I hope you liked the chapter :D

Please review!

~Saku-Chan


End file.
